Baling-press.



PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904. W. .H. KAUFFMAN.

BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION nun JAN. 16. 1904.

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BALING PRESS.

I APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16. 1904. N0 MODEL.

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PATENTED JUNE 28, 1904.

W. H. KAUFPMAN.

BALING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16. 1904.

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BALING PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 16, 1904. NO MODEL.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 1125522: Y inneutnr .3 gnu Puo'rauwu. wasumnron u c UNITED STATES Patented June 28, 190 1.

WILLIAM H. KAUFFMAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

BALlNG-PRESS.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 763,905, dated June 28, 1904.

Application filed January 16, 1904.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. KAUFF- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of Vayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Baling-Presses; and I do declare the following to be a-full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an automatic baling-press; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out particularly in the claims.

The primary object of the invention is to produce a baling-press of high capacity and of simple, compact, and powerful construction wherein the arrangement is such as to render the operation of the reciprocatory plunger entirely automatic.

A further object is to provide for moving the plunger forward with the required power to compress the bale and quickly return it for a succeeding stroke.

A further object is to provide suitable mechanism for perfectly controlling the movement of the plunger and insuring its automatic operation.

A further object is to provide an automatic feeding device for forcing the hay or other substance into the hopper of the press in advance of the plunger and in providing suitable means for regulating the density of the bale and preventing the reaction of the hay upon the retraction of the plunger.

The above objects are attained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention, portions of which are broken away to show the arrangement of parts of the operative mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the gearing and clutch mechanism. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section as on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan Serial No. 189,311. (No model.)

view of the cam-plate which controls the reversing-clutches. Fig. 6 is a transverse section as on line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the construction shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the reciprocatory cam-plate and a portion of the lever through the medium of which it is actuated for a portion of the distance it travels. Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view through the hopper and feed-chamber of the press, showing the tucking-roller under which the hay is carried by the movement of the plunger. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view in perspective of one end of said tucking-roller, showing the vertically-movable cross-head in which the shaft of saidroller is journaled and the compensating spring therefor. Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view, in horizontal section, through the pressure-chamber, showing the detaining-hooks pivoted in the sides of said chamber adapted to prevent the hay from following the plunger as it recedes after a for ward movement. Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates the frame of the machine upon which the operative parts are mounted and which is supported upon suitable wheels 2 to facilitate transportation. Passing transversally of the machine and journaled in suitable bearings therein is the main shaft 3, upon which is fixed a pinion 4:, that meshes with a gear-wheel 5 upon the counter-shaft 6, also journaled in the frame of the machine. Upon the main shaft 3 is a loose pinion 7, which meshes with a rack 8, secured to the upper face of the reciprocatory beam 9, to one end of which the plunger 10 is attached. Upon the counter-shaft 6 is loosely mounted a pinion 11, which also meshes with the rack 8.

Upon the ends of the main shaft 3 are the flywheels 12, to either of which a belt may lead from any suitable source of power for the purpose of driving the machine.

The plunger 10 reciprocates in the feedingchamber 13 below the hopper 14, through which the hay or other material to be baled is fed into the machine, andby its operation forces the hay or other material into the compression-chamber 15, through which it passes to the baling-chamber 16 at the rear of, the

machine, (shown in Fig. 1,) in which it is wired in the ordinary manner.

To provide for automaticallyimparting a reciprocatory movement to the plunger for the purpose of carrying each successive charge of hay into the compression-chamber, suitable clutches are employed, whose construction and operation will be described with reference more particularly to Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5. Upon the shaft 3 are the clutch-collars 17 which are splined to said shaft and are of the jaw pattern, being adapted to engage corresponding members on the ends 18 of the hub of the pinion 7. Lying in a peripheral groove in each of said clutch-collars is a yoke 19, within which the collar is adapted to rotate. The upper ends 20 of the members forming said yoke extend vertically parallel and are bolted together, while the lower ends 21 thereof extend downwardly and are pivoted at 22 to the floor or bed of the machine. Upon the shaft 6 are the opposed clutch-collars 23, which are in like manner splined thereto and are provided with beveled jaws adapted to engage corresponding members on the ends 24 of the hub of the pinion 11. Lying in a peripheral channel in each of the collars 23 is a yoke 25, within which each collar rotates. The upper portions of the members of said yokes extend vertically, as at 26, and are bolted or otherwise secured together. The lower portions of said yokes extend downwardly, as at 27, and are pivoted to the floor of the machine, as at 28. Mounted above the clutches is a reciprocatory cam-plate 29, (shown more clearly in Fig. 5,) having the camways 30 and 31 in the opposite ends thereof. The inner ends of said camways converge and terminate near the center of said plate. The upwardly-extending ends 20 of the members of the yokes 19 pass through the cam slots or ways 31 and through the slots 32 in the lateral guide-plates 33, secured to the central longitudinal bar 34 of the frame by means of the bolts 35. The upwardly-extending end portions 26 of the members of the yokes pass through the cam slots or ways and through the slots 36 in the lateral guide-plates 37, which are also bolted to the bar 34 by the bolts 38. It will now be understood that as the cam-plate 29 is shifted longitudinally the clutches 17 and 23 will be alternately thrown into and out of engagement with the hubs of their respective pinions 7 and 11. As said cam-plate is moved to the left, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5, the converging ends of the camways 31 will throw the yokes 19 inwardly and carry the clutches 17 into engagement with the hub of the pinion 7, thereby locking said pinion to the shaft 3 and-causing it to turn therewith and drive the rack 8. A reverse movement of the cam-plate will disengage the clutches 17 and carry the clutches 23 into engagement with the hub of the pinion 11 through the action of the converging end portions of the camways 30 upon the end portions of the yokes 25, which pass through said. Ways, thereby causing the pinion 11 to turn with the shaft 6 and imparting a reverse movement to the rack 8. As the yokes are actuated, through the operation of the cam-plate, to shift the clutches as described, they swing upon their pivotal bearing-points 22 and 28, while the upper ends of said yokes are held to a straight lateral course by means of the slots in the guide-plates 33 and 37.

- The cam-plate 29 is suspended from a channel-bar 39 by means of the end blocks 40, said channel-bar being supported upon rollers 41, journaled in the guide-plates 33 and 37 whereby a reciprocatory movement of said channelbar and cam-plate is permitted. Depending from the under face of the bar 34 is a track 42, which is embraced by the channel-bar 39 and serves to guide said channel-bar in its movement, all of which construction is more clearly shown in Fig. 6.

Passing through a vertical slot in the beam 34 is a lever 43, carrying upon the upper end thereof an adjustable weight 44. Said lever is fulcrumed in a suitable bracket by means of the transverse pin 46, said bracket resting upon the beam 34 and the lower end of said lever passing downwardly through the slot in said beam and track 42 and entering a slot 47 (see Fig. 8) in the channel-bar 39, whereby by a movement of said lever upon its fulcrum said channel-bar may be shifted longitudinally, carrying with it the cam-plate 29. When the lever 34 is in a vertical position, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the cam-plate is so held as to release both of the clutches upon the shafts 3 and 6, thereby permitting said shafts to turn without driving the plunger.

As before stated, the plunger 10 is carried upon the reciprocatory beam 9,which is driven through the medium of the rack 8 and the pinions 7 and 11, said beam being supported upon the antifrietion-rollers 48, which roll in contact with the metal strip 50, with which the under side of the beam 9 is faced. The plunger 10 is provided in its lower edge with an antifriction-roller 51, which rolls upon the floor or bed of the press and relieves the machine from the friction which would otherwise be created between the floor and plunger.

When the cam-plate 29 is so adjusted as to throw both of the clutches out of gear, the plunger may be started in either direction desired by shifting the lever 43, as stated. It will also be understood that by means of the lever 43 the plunger may be stopped at any point by bringing said lever to the vertical position, whereby both clutches will be disengagec.

When the machine is in operation, the reciprocatory movement of the plunger is controlled automatically through the medium of the buffer-plates 52 and 53, depending from the opposite ends of the cam-plate 29, which operate in conjunction with the abutments 54 and 55, carried upon the beam of the plunger and the plunger-head, respectively. Assuming that a charge of hay has been placed in the machine and the plunger is moving forward to compress the charge, the movement of said plunger will not be arrested until the buffer 54:, mounted upon the plunger-beam and supported by the brackets 56, engages the buffer-plate 52 at the rear edge of the cam-plate 29 and carries the cam-plate longitudinally such distance as to disengage the clutches 23, thereby arresting the forward movement of the plunger, at which time the coiled spring 57, having been driven into a housing in the buffer 5& by the resistance of the buffer-plate 52, will upon the release of the clutches 23 spring outwardly, thereby moving the cam-plate sufficiently to carry the lever 43 past the center of gravity, when the weight 44 on the end of said lever with the action of said spring 57 will complete the movement of the cam-plate to place the clutches 17 in gear, when the plunger will start back upon its return movement. As said plunger nears the terminal of its return movement the buffer 55, into which the coiled spring 58 will have been compressed by contact with the bufier-plate 53, will move the cam-plate 29 such distance as to disengage the clutches 17, when the tension of the spring 58 will move the cam-plate such distance as to swing the weighted lever beyond the center of gravity in the opposite direction, when the combined force of the weight and spring will complete the movement of the cam-plate and place the clutches 23 in gear, thereby again causing the plunger to travel forward. It will therefore be seen that once started the reeiprocatory movement of the plunger is made continuous, which movement will be maintained as long as the machine is operated unless both clutches are disengaged by bringing the lever 43 to the vertical'position. It will also be noted that by means of the large gear 5 upon the eounter-shaft 6, which is driven by the pinion 4, the forward movement of the plunger will be relatively slow, while said plunger will have great compressing force, and that when the clutches are reversed the plunger will be quickly retracted, owing to the fact that the pinion 7 will be driven directly from the main shaft 3, so that no time will be lost in returning the plunger for a succeeding charge. 1

As before stated, the charges of the hay are placed into the hopper in advance of the plunger, and each charge is successively compressed in the compression-chamber, wherein the bale is formed, before passing into the baling-chamber. In order to prevent the whifl's of hay upon the upper side of each charge from standing upwardly as the charges are forced into the compression-chamber, a

tucking-roller 59 is located in the upper por tion of the compression-chamber, extending across the top thereof adjacent to the hopperopening, under which each charge of hay is forced'by the plunger and which rolls the hay down and tucks it under, so that the ends do not project therefrom. Said roller being mounted in cross-heads 60, adapted to slide vertically in guide-frames 61 (see Fig. 10) in the opposite sides of the compression-chamber, is permitted to move vertically to adjust itself to any variation in the size of the charges as they are fed into the machine, said crossheads moving upwardly against the springs 62, which embrace the guide-rods 63, attached to said cross-heads, and are confined between said heads and the top of the frames, the force of said springs moving the rollers down wardl after the plunger is retracted. I

To prevent the hay which is compressed in advance of the plunger from receding when the plunger is retracted, the detaining-hooks 64 are employed, (shown more clearly in Fig. 11,) which are pivoted in openings in the sides of the compression chamber and extend obliquely therein, their outer ends having eyes through which pass the bolts65, upon which the coiled springs 66 are mounted between the outer ends of said detaining-hooks and the sides of the press. The tension of said springs will normally hold the points of said hooks inwardly, but allow said hooks to recede as said plunger moves forward. Upon the retraction of the plunger the hooks are forced inwardly into the hay and hold it until the plunger again moves forward with a succeeding charge.

An automatic feeder for the purpose of f eeding each charge of hay into the machine through the hopper is provided in the shape of a long arm 67, having a right-angle end portion 68, which stands directly over the hopper, said arm being pivoted at 69 to a-suitable support and having pivotally attached to the short end thereof an eccentric-rod 70, attached to the strap of the eccentric 71, fixed to the shaft 72, carrying a gear-wheel 7 3, adapted to mesh with a segment 74 on the side of the large gear 5. The length of the segment 74: is sufficient to cause the gear 73 to make one complete revolution when carried into engagement therewith, so that at each revolution of the gear 5 the feeding-arm is caused to descend and return to its normal position, said arm remaining at rest until the segment is again brought into engagement with the gear 73. These parts are so timed in their operation that a charge of hay placed in the hopper will be forced into the machine in advance of the plunger and the arm raised -to allow the placing within the hopper of a succeeding charge. i

In some instances it is desirable that the bales be made very compact or dense, especially for the purpose of foreign shipment.

For this reason vertical rods are passed through the rear ends of the baling-chamber 16 and at their upper ends are surrounded by a socket 76, in which is seated a coiled spring 77, surrounding said rods and adapted to be compressed by the engaging nut 78. By means of this arrangement the rear end of the baling-chamber may be contracted by screwing said nut down upon said rods, whereby the bale as it is forced through said chamber is additionally compressed, enabling it to be given any desired density, the coiled springs 77 serving to allow the rear end of the balingchamber to yield slightly, and thereby avoid a possible choking of the bale therein. The bales are divided by follow-plates, which are successively inserted into the machine through the hopper in advance of the plunger, as common in the art, and are wired in the balingchamber before being discharged.

Below the hopper in the floor of the press is a perforated section 79, through which the chaff and seeds may pass, and thereby relieve the bales from a great deal of the dust and dirt which they would otherwise contain.

It will be observed that extending longitudinally of the frame of the machine are trussrods 80, which engage in the cross-timbers near the end of the machine, whereby the resistance which is offered to the movement of the plunger when compressing a charge is borne by said rods, thereby relieving the wooden frame of the machine from the strain that would otherwise be applied thereto and enabling any desired pressure to be exerted upon the bales.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a baling-press, the combination with the pressure-chamber, of the reciprocatory plunger, the beam carrying said plunger and having a rack thereon,two shafts of differential speed, a loose pinion upon each shaft engaging said rack, a clutch for each shaft to lock its pinion thereto, and means movable with the plunger for automatically throwing the clutch on the low-speed shaft into gear for driving the plunger forward, and automatically throwing into gear the clutch on the high speed shaft for returning said plunger at the limit of its forward movement.

2. In a baling-press, the combination with the pressure-chamber and plunger, the beam and rack connected with said plunger, the two shafts of differential speed, each shaft having a loose pinion in engagement with said rack, clutches for driving the pinions independently, a movable cam-plate for shifting said clutches, a spring-buffer upon the plunger and a spring-buffer upon the beam adapted to suecessively shift said cam-plate, whereby the movement of the beam and plunger is rendered automatically reciprocatory.

3. In a baling-press, the combination with the pressure-chamber, the reciprocatory plunger, a beam for driving said plunger, a rack upon the beam, two shafts of diflerential speed each having a loose pinion engaging said rack and means for alternately locking said pinions to said shafts to cause a reciprocation of the beam and plunger, a sliding member for controlling said locking means, said member having a pivoted weighted lever connected therewith, and means carried by the plunger and beam for successively driving said sliding member in opposite directions and carrying said weighted lever from side to side of its vertical center.

4. In a baling-press, the combination of the reciprocatory plunger, a beam for actuating said plunger, a rack upon said beam, two rotatable pinions engaging said rack, clutches for driving said pinions, pivoted yokes engaging said clutches, a movable plate having camways engaging said yokes through the medium of which said clutches are thrown into and out of engagement with said pinions, a pivoted lever having a weight thereon, said lever movably connected with said cam-plate, buffers carried by the plunger and plungerbeam for shifting the cam-plate, whereby the movement of the plunger is rendered automatically reciprocatory.

5. In a balingpress, the combination of the reciprocatory plunger, means for driving said plunger in opposite directions, a sliding member for controlling said driving means, a weighted lever connected with said sliding member, buffers attached to the plunger and plunger-beam adapted to engage and. shift said sliding member, said buffers each having a compressible spring seated therein and normally projecting therefrom, which coact with said weighted lever to complete the movement of said sliding member.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. KAUFFMAN. Witnesses:

E. S. WHEELER, I. G. HowLE'r'r. 

